I don't know a whole lot about it, but isn't a government shutdown drastically different than being closed on the weekends? I would imagine a shutdown involves layoffs and having to move money around just to maintain the status quo.

Klippoklondike:I don't know a whole lot about it, but isn't a government shutdown drastically different than being closed on the weekends? I would imagine a shutdown involves layoffs and having to move money around just to maintain the status quo.

You don't get paid if you don't work on weekends. And you don't get paid if your employer ceases operations.

This is what infuriates me about Ted Cruz: He is NOT a Stupid man. If this crap came from Steve King or Michele Bachmann, or Steve Stockman, I would believe that they actually believed something that stupid. But cruz is a Harvard law Alum, with a pretty good W-L record arguing ccases in front of the US Supreme Court, which, whatever you feel about its current make-up, is no place for intellectual lightweihts (Clarence Thomas obviously excepted).

So Cruz KNOWS this is utter horseshiat. He's playing pure demagogue and saying stuff that will rile up the credulous portions of his base that eat this crap up with spoon to increase his chances of getting the nomination in 2016, damage to the country be damned

Magorn:This is what infuriates me about Ted Cruz: He is NOT a Stupid man. If this crap came from Steve King or Michele Bachmann, or Steve Stockman, I would believe that they actually believed something that stupid. But cruz is a Harvard law Alum, with a pretty good W-L record arguing ccases in front of the US Supreme Court, which, whatever you feel about its current make-up, is no place for intellectual lightweihts (Clarence Thomas obviously excepted).

So Cruz KNOWS this is utter horseshiat. He's playing pure demagogue and saying stuff that will rile up the credulous portions of his base that eat this crap up with spoon to increase his chances of getting the nomination in 2016, damage to the country be damned

Dog Welder:And which party do Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Mike Lee belong to again?

I forget.

Because according to some of the trolls, Republicans aren't trying to shut down the government.

They are the next generation Republicans. The old school repubs aren't trying to shut down the government because they're career politicians who don't give a fark about any except lining their own pockets (in other words, they might as well be in the democrat party).

Do it, you pussies. Seriously, shut down the government in your bid to ensure that the working poor can't get access to reasonable healthcare... I want the Dems to win some seats in 2014, and Mr. Cruz's idea seems to be the best way of making sure that happens.

Mad Scientist:The first thing that happens in a government shutdown is stopping the pay for members of congress, right?

Nope, in a shutdown, congress still gets paid. Some of their staffers don't, military contractors don't, some military benefits programs get halted, old people don't get SS checks, and a litany of other bad things happen.... but Congress still gets paid to not work, just like always.

Nothing you can say about these people is false. They're ignorant and they're wicked and they'll die that way, and the knowledge that no hell awaits them and that they'll never have to take responsibility for their conduct makes atheism a bitter, bitter pill.

"No state shall receive in Federal funds more than the citizens of each state pay in Federal taxes; however, at the discretion of the elected officials of each state, additional funds may be distributed to other states as they see fit. Funds not dispersed in any fiscal year will be applied to the general fund, or to defray the deficit."

There ya go, Texas! You pay for Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas and the old Confederacy. Us blue states'll take care of Rhode Island, New Mexico and Hawaii. Deal?

Ted Cruz thinks it would be no big deal to force a government shutdown over a fight to de-fund Obamacare because "Saturdays and Sundays we see temporary partial government shutdowns, and the world doesn't end"

The utter devastation and suffering that was promised and came about as a result of the sequester puts the lie to that statement. The breadlines, the people dying in the street, the complete collapse of our infrastructure and economy from a few tenths of one percent of cuts should serve as a valuable lesson that the government is as essential to our existence as air.

Magorn:This is what infuriates me about Ted Cruz: He is NOT a Stupid man. If this crap came from Steve King or Michele Bachmann, or Steve Stockman, I would believe that they actually believed something that stupid. But cruz is a Harvard law Alum, with a pretty good W-L record arguing ccases in front of the US Supreme Court, which, whatever you feel about its current make-up, is no place for intellectual lightweihts (Clarence Thomas obviously excepted).

So Cruz KNOWS this is utter horseshiat. He's playing pure demagogue and saying stuff that will rile up the credulous portions of his base that eat this crap up with spoon to increase his chances of getting the nomination in 2016, damage to the country be damned

Exactly. Nobody honestly thinks federal agencies effectively disappear ever weekend or holiday, and for those jobs that do have limited hours there is a hell of a lot of difference between operation five days a week and not operating at all. It's a bumper sticker, not an actual appraisal of the "merits" of shutting down the government in pursuit of forcing Democrats to stop trying to negotiate and just rubber stamp what the House passes.

Of course, after the THUD debacle yesterday we see that even the House doesn't want to govern based on what they pass.

jjorsett:Ted Cruz thinks it would be no big deal to force a government shutdown over a fight to de-fund Obamacare because "Saturdays and Sundays we see temporary partial government shutdowns, and the world doesn't end"

The utter devastation and suffering that was promised and came about as a result of the sequester puts the lie to that statement. The breadlines, the people dying in the street, the complete collapse of our infrastructure and economy from a few tenths of one percent of cuts should serve as a valuable lesson that the government is as essential to our existence as air.

Inability to distinguish subtlety and non-binary forms of degradation is the first sign of low intelligence.

firefly212:Mad Scientist: The first thing that happens in a government shutdown is stopping the pay for members of congress, right?

Nope, in a shutdown, congress still gets paid. Some of their staffers don't, military contractors don't, some military benefits programs get halted, old people don't get SS checks, and a litany of other bad things happen.... but Congress still gets paid to not work, just like always.

the larger issue is the bond holders don't get paid this is where shiat hit the fan last time and our credit score was dinged then all the racists got to make jokes about "elect a black guy and your credit score drops"

Grungehamster:Magorn: This is what infuriates me about Ted Cruz: He is NOT a Stupid man. If this crap came from Steve King or Michele Bachmann, or Steve Stockman, I would believe that they actually believed something that stupid. But cruz is a Harvard law Alum, with a pretty good W-L record arguing ccases in front of the US Supreme Court, which, whatever you feel about its current make-up, is no place for intellectual lightweihts (Clarence Thomas obviously excepted).

So Cruz KNOWS this is utter horseshiat. He's playing pure demagogue and saying stuff that will rile up the credulous portions of his base that eat this crap up with spoon to increase his chances of getting the nomination in 2016, damage to the country be damned

Exactly. Nobody honestly thinks federal agencies effectively disappear ever weekend or holiday, and for those jobs that do have limited hours there is a hell of a lot of difference between operation five days a week and not operating at all. It's a bumper sticker, not an actual appraisal of the "merits" of shutting down the government in pursuit of forcing Democrats to stop trying to negotiate and just rubber stamp what the House passes.

Of course, after the THUD debacle yesterday we see that even the House doesn't want to govern based on what they pass.

Unfortunately being a psychopath doesn't automatically make you stupid, it just makes you a much more effective asshole.